A Trail of Glass
by germ attack3
Summary: 6 Guardians find and enter the Vault of Glass.


"Warlock Drex, would you please enlighten our small council of the events that transpired in the last mission involving you and your Fireteam?" "I will Speaker, but you should know that the mission was for us to accompany Omega fireteam" "Can't we start the story at the Vault" Cayde-6 interrupted Drex as he began to speak again. The excitement could be easily seen on Cayde-6's metallic face and any delay only seemed to aggregate him more. "I disagree. If there is something to be learned from this mission then we should hear all the details first" Replied Ikora.

The meeting had only begun moments ago but Drex was already sick of it. He was only comfortable out in the field. Being a young warlock he was more interested in fighting the darkness with the knowledge he learned. Other warlocks would just explore Hive sites and sit on the information they learned never reviling it until the day the either die or go missing. Drex looked back to his fireteam standing behind him. They too were patiently waiting for the rest of the Council to stop talking so he could begin his tale. While watching the three vanguard leaders talk about the Vault, Drex wondered if he would ever get to start. The discomfort of his surroundings was quickly turning into plain boredom. He looked around at the grey walls, the grey table and the grey vanguards that sat there bickering. Finally Commander Zavala voice rose above the others in a commanding way that only the he could have done. "I think that we should let the teller of the story begin where he pleases." This seemed to silence even Cayde-6.

Everyone's eyes were now on Drex. "Well I don't know the whole story; we were split up at one or two points in the mission. So Zen or Viv might have to..." "That is why we invited Hunter Zenith and Titan Vivix-9 to this meeting." Drex looked back at his team for a second Viv was an exo with a scarred copper face plate with bright blue eyes. Zen was a human like Drex except Zen had dark skin and where Drex had longer black hair Zen had short cut blond hair. "Is fireteam Omega showing up later to give their report?" "Fireteam Omega will not be joining us." The speaker replied. "They were deployed on another mission but they will deliver a written statement of the events that transpired." Viv leaned closer to Zen and whispered "Damn, redeployment already?" Ikora shot a calm glare at Viv. Viv got the message a resumed to standing up straight and having her blue glowing exo eyes forward. Zen silently chuckled to himself.

Drex nervously adjusted the bond on his arm while thinking about how hard this would be if Viv and Zen weren't there. They found each other around the same time and they banded together against the darkness even though they came from different corners of different worlds. Drex was born again on Venus in the Ishtar academy while Zen and Viv were on Earth. Zen was found out away from the city all alone probably had survived on his own until the fallen had decided to take the area. Viv was found near the borders of the Cosmodrone like she died protecting the city. Drex often wondered if the location of where they were resurrected had anything to do with what kind of guardians they became. Drex being found in a library, Zen in the wilderness, and Viv shielding the city. It all seemed too convenient to him, but after the events that had brought him and his fireteam here Drex now realized convenient events are just another way to say fate.

"I was just wondering because they have more insight to the story than any of us." "That may be, but myself and the Vanguard would like to hear your side of the story. Fireteam Omega will deliver us a digital report when they return." Drex hesitated for a moment before he replied. "Well I'm not exactly sure what all happens that's why I think you'd be better off asking Omega" This time Zavala spoke up. "Relax Drex, we have seen you and you teams crucible scores. There is no reason to play modest." Drex didn't realize he was doing exactly that. He knew his team was good, no, one of the best there was. Why was he being so modest? A week ago he would have said damn right there is no reason to be modest. On a good day we can win a skirmish match by quadrupling the other teams score. But for some reason he was playing down their abilities. It must be because of Omega, they made him feel insecure now. No, that's not right; they made him realize that Drex and his team could be so much stronger.

The look on Cayde-6's face told Drex that his story better begin soon or Cayde-6 would get in a ship and go look at the vault himself. After taking a long breath and looking around the room again he began to speak. "One week ago my team and I were assigned to aid in an exploration mission on Venus. We weren't told the specifics of it so we assumed that it was a guard mission for some scientists looking into the Vex tech. You can imagine our surprise when we found out that we were going with another fireteam."

* * *

It was two hours before they were scheduled for takeoff so Viv, Zen, and Drex were waiting in the tower hanger like they normally do before a mission. Zen turned his attention away from his knife which he was sharpening, to the rest of the team. "So what are we suppose to do exactly, just sit back and watch while they type away on so keypad?" "It's our job to protect them" Viv answered. "I agree with Zen. It doesn't make sense why they need us. Why can't they get so lower ranked guardians to do this?" "Maybe they want you and Zen to carry the equipment." "Ha, Wait you don't think they would really do that do you?" "No, if they had you and Zen carry everything it would take all day." "How long do we have Drex?" "Two hours. Zen, go prep the ships. Viv, do you have the guns?" "I can in an hour. What are you going to do?" "I'm going to go meet our new friends, and of course volunteer Viv for carrying duty." "HEY!" exclaimed Viv, but Drex had already left the room.

Drex walked eagerly to the Hall of Guardians where he was to meet the members that would be joining his fireteam. He didn't mind babysitting some civilians for while. In fact he welcomed the idea of scientist coming along. They were they kind of people who remember the best stories of old heroes. Drex loved to hear about the heroes of humanity like Saint-14 who defended the walls of the city or even Toland the Shattered who was part of the fireteam that took on Crota. It seemed like back then great guardians were born every day. If those heroes were still around maybe we could have a chance against the darkness. But unfortunately those days have passed all of the old guardians are dead or have gone mad. Drex wishes that he could have at least met one of the guardians from the legends. Shaking away his somber thoughts Drex walk into the hall.

He didn't see anyone that seemed to be waiting for him. Normally if there is a team of scientists going out they're so excited that they arrive a couple hours early. The only people there were the hurried vanguard trying to get work done and the occasional service robot. Drex stood there for a while scanning the room when he noticed one of the service robots looking at him. The robot stood there for a moment but then began to walk up to him. "CONFIRM ARE YOU WARLOCK DREX?" "Confirm, I am" "FIRETEAM OMEGA WILL NOW BE MEETING YOU IN THE TOWER HANGER" "Fireteam Omega?" "THE TEAM YOU WERE SCHEDULED TO MEET HERE. PLEASE CONFIRM THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS MESSAGE." "Yeah I got it." "VOICE RECORDED, HAVE A NICE DAY."

Drex began the walk to his vault. "Now this is interesting" he said himself. Why were the sending two fireteam? And who exactly is fireteam Omega? Drex kept thinking of more and more questions but eventually gave in to the fact that he will just have to wait and find out. Drex pulled from his vault the Astrolord armor that he got when he did a few favors for the future war cult. Although he didn't agree with their philosophy he did like their armor. He always seemed to side with dead orbit the most. He agreed with the fact that everyone is royally screwed on Earth. Unfortunately they didn't have the armor he needed to survive, so what's the point? Drex finished putting his armor on and he began to head down to the hanger. He had already sent a message to Viv and Zen. In fact they were probably waiting on him right now.

He was right. When he turned the corner into the hanger he saw both of them waiting there. Viv was leaning against a wall tapping her fingers making a *clack clack* noise as her metal hand drummed on a rail. She was already in her No Tomorrow armor waiting with an impatient look on her face. Zen was in his Exodus armor sitting down and sharpening his knife. Drex knew him; Zen just thought he looked cool when he had his knife out. Zen was the first to see Drex walking up to them. "Hey there you are, what happened? Why are we meeting here?" "There was a change of plan. We're meeting fireteam Omega here" Viv stood up in surprise. "Fireteam? What kind of mission would need two fireteams?" "Beats me, you know everything I do. Zen are the ships ready?" "Holiday says they're good to go." "What about the guns?" "Loaded before you got here." "So I guess that mean we can sit back and wait for Omega to show up." Zen stood up and put away his knife. "I don't think we are going to be waiting too long." Drex and Viv both turned around to see the three members of team Omega.

It was the warlock who spoke first. "Are you the team that was assigned to our Venus mission?" He was older, which was a hard thing to tell with guardians but Drex could tell by the way he spoke. He was a human with hair that was long and combed back and whiter that he was. Drex turned his attention to the other two. The hunter was an awoken woman who had a colder stare that matched her blue skin and purple hair that stuck out on one side. Lastly there was the titan who didn't seem to fit with the other two on the account that he was smiling. He was an exo with blue eyes and a gold face plate. What caught Drex off guard was the fact that he was about two meter tall.

"Yes we are, and if you don't mind could you give us a little more detail in this mission?" This time the titan spoke "Of course, what we are doing is a patrol mission. We are there to gather some Intel for Prolus. Which is the name of our warlock here, and now that I think about it names is what we probably should have began with. This here is our hunter, Sandren and I'm Brocis-9." When Brocis finished Prolus cut in. "We can inform you more when we get to Venus but right now we have take off so we'll before sunrise."

Drex, still having plenty of questions, reluctantly complied and was followed by his team to the part of the hanger where their ships were waiting. They each climbed in to their own craft and took off one at a time. They didn't have to wait long before they received the coordinates from Omega, which directed to the Istar Sink. Drex's team fired up their hyper drives and took off to whatever lay in store for them on the jungle planet of Venus.

* * *

Drex looked out the window of his ship to see the shinning dull yellow of Venus. It was strange that poison could make something so pretty. He sat the staring for quite some time before Zen voice came over the radio. "So are we going to land or are we waiting for a formal invitation." "Sorry about that I was just double checking the coordinates, we are good to land in the Istar Sink." "Sure whatever you say." Zen's ship descended to the planet immediately after he finished speaking. He was then followed by Viv chasing after him. Drex took one last look at the flouting golden sphere and then followed them down.

When Drex transmatted in, his fireteam was standing around the other warlock, Prolus, who was scanning the ground with a data pad. All of Omega team was now in their full armor. Drex was taken aback by it. He had never seen anything like it. It was mostly brown with some parts painted black but what really threw him off was the class armor each one of them wore. It was the way they glowed and the geometry of them. The only way he could describe it was that it almost looked like a Vex construct.

Brocis was standing behind all of them with is automatic rifle out. The rife was also something very strange. It looked very old, much like the armor, but the style of it was modern. It was black except for some dark blue near the trigger leading to the barrel and also at the top by the holographic sight. Drex didn't notice Sandren at first because she was high up on some rocks getting a look out of the area through the scope of a sniper rifle

Prolus turned and looked at Drex. "Good! Now that we are all here we can get started. Drex I need you to go over this data I'm sending to your ghost. It is a large file I got from a terminal on the campus here; it has information on Vex structures around the area. We are looking for something that has an unclear purpose." "Can you be vaguer please?" "I know but it is all we have to work with, just make sure it is big, weird and heavily guarded.

Brocis and Viv you two will be taking out any fallen that get too close for comfort. Sandren you will be scouting around for high value Vex targets." Sandren gave thumbs up and disappeared behind the rock she was standing on. "Zen search around for any running equipment that can be used to scan Vex tech, got it?" Zen just stared off in the distance. "Zen, do you copy?" Still nothing "Is his radio on?"

Zen turned around to see everyone staring at him. Viv pointed to her helmet and Zen quickly scrambled to push the button on his helmet. "Sorry I forgot. What were we talking about?" Prolus stood there for a moment not moving, then he turned around and started walking to the Campus Drex caught up and followed him. Zen continued to stand there. "Wait, did I miss something?" Brocis came up and put his hand on Zen's shoulder. "Just check around for some computers." He said in a reassuring tone. "Good luck" Viv said as she walked away with Brocis who had also almost caught up with the two warlocks. "Okay, I'll just look around here then." Zen yelled.

When they got to the Campus they had to take out a few fallen before getting to work. Each person split up and got busy. The day went on and only a few fallen drop ships passed by which didn't make the search any easier. Drex only wished he knew exactly what he was looking for. His eyes began to feel tired, which is saying something for guardians, but still he read file after file finding nothing that was extraordinarily weird. This was the kind of work Drex was really hopping this mission wouldn't involve. "I bet Osiris never had to do this, he would have just gone out and found what he was looking for." He said to himself.

The shadows grew longer and longer until Prolus called over the radio for everyone to meet up inside the academy. The last to arrive was Zen. "Wow what's with all of the bodies" Viv was the one to answer. "Brocis and I had to clear out a few fallen here, but get a potted plant in here and it would look pretty quaint." "Why are we meeting up wouldn't be better to search at night when it is harder for the fallen to see us?" It was Sandren's turn to answer, which was actually the first time any of them had heard her speak. Her voice was soft and quiet like she never used it much. "Yes that would make it easier to avoid the fallen but at night the real worry is the Vex who sometime wander in this area."

On that note the two teams took a seat and the warlocks began to compare notes about what they had found. Apparently Prolus had found about as much as Drex had and by the time they finished all they had was a pile of dead ends. "Tomorrow we can start looking around again" Drex dreaded the thought. Drex broke the thought by saying "Zen did you find anything interesting." You could almost feel Prolus cringe. "No but I did find some fallen creates lying around, not much in them though."

Prolus moved on. "Sandren did you find anything?" "No, but I am going to keep looking at the Citadel tomorrow and if that doesn't work I will head to the Waking Ruins." Zen looked up "Isn't that where those Henzen Protective Vex are?" Prolus and Sandren both looked at each other. "How do did you know that?" Prolus asked delicately. "When I was looking for more chests out by Campus 9 I found a computer with a document titled- The Vault." "WHAT!?" "Well I thought it was talking about another chest so I kept reading, eventually it mentioned those Henzen Protective. If you come across it I call dips." All of team Omega had their eyes wide open. Sandren turned to Prolus "Did he just find the Vault of Glass?"

Viv cut in. "What's the Vault of Glass?" Brocis was the first to snap out of it and answer. "It is what we came here to find. The Vault itself is a mystery, all we know is a dark power grows from it and we need to take it out as fast as we can." Prolus now started speaking. "Once there was a titan named Kabr who led a group into the Vault, his light was very strong but he and his team were never heard from again." "So the information search for tomorrow is cancelled?" Drex spoke up happily. "Tomorrow Zen and I are going to go get that file and then we open the vault and see what's inside. Maybe I underestimated you Zen." "Does that mean I can get the loot?" "Or maybe not."

* * *

Once dawn hit the guardians jumped on their sparrows and drove to the Waking Ruins. When they arrived Zen and Prolus headed immediately to Campus 9 to get the document that held the information for the vault. While they accomplished that, the rest of the group cleared out every Vex in the area they could find. When the job was complete everyone regrouped including Zen and Prolus who had returned with the information they were looking for.

They all took a look around the area. A cliff was to their back and there hung incredible hanging vines on unmoving Vex structures, who's bronze color shinned in the sun. What really caught everyone's attention was the giant bronze circular door that dwarfed all of them. "So the vault is past that?" Asked Drex. Prolus answered. "Yes but the hard part is opening it. From what I can gather there should be a large conflux somewhere that acts as a key for the door, but I don't know where it is or how we are going to get it here."

The group began looking around for any kind of clue but came up with nothing. Once again they regrouped so they could put their heads together. "Maybe they move it off planet." Drex suggested. "Or it is somewhere else on Venus." Viv added. Sandren responded "No, that would be too inefficient for them." Brocis now spoke up "So it has to be a transmat." Everyone went back to thinking.

Zen was the first to talk again. "What if we push really hard on the door?" "Zen could you please go do something useful like be on the lookout for approaching enemies" Prolus said with a voice that was light hearted but still made you want to take the situation seriously. "Calm down it isn't like we haven't gotten anywhere; at least we know where the thing is suppose to go." Prolus turned to Viv. "Is he just trying to mess with us or does he actually think he knows where the conflux should stand?" Zen cut back in. "What do you mean it goes right over there" Zen pointed to a rectangle on the ground.

Prolus was starting to get frustrated. "What tells you that we need to put it there?" "Look, the area around it is yellow." "We are on Venus, everything is yellow." "But it is thicker here. Listen the only why the Vex could open that door is if the key had a conductive material like copper in it to control the electricity. We know that the Vex will often use copper in their building parts." Viv spoke up this time "Now you have lost even me Zen." "Well when copper is exposed to heat and sulfur it lets off a gas just like this" "How did you know that?" Asked Prolus who was kind of stunned. "I had a mission one time to collect copper from the academy, I put it behind my ships engines while they were still warn and started rain so I went back inside. When I came back I had a nice yellow surprise waiting for me."

Prolus began speaking with a smile. "Well I guess, all of our problems have just been solved" "How so?" "To activate a device like this there must be a way to summon it here, not only that but it also has to be nearby. If I would have to guess the way to bring the key here is either here or in the Citadel." Brocis Spoke up. "Okay Omega will search the Citadel and you guy can search around here. We will meet up at the end of the day. Oh and Zen, keep up the good work."

The two teams split up and Drex and his team were left alone. Drex turned to Zen. "Good work man." "Thanks, I have my moments." He responded with a beaming smile. The three of them began looking around for anything that fits the vague description they were given. All of them went in different directions and searched for hours. Eventually Drex became exasperated and decided it was time for a break. He found a rectangular piece of stone and took a seat on it.

"I see you don't give up easily" Viv said sarcastically. "I'm thinking." "You seem to do a lot of that when there is work to be done." she joked. "Did you come up with anything" Zen shouted as he neared the other two guardians. "Drex is thinking right now but I'm sure he will come up with something after we found the key." "See that's what I have to ponder over, what kind of a key would a Vex use?" His teammates stood and looked at his feet. After waiting a few seconds for and answer Drex continued, slightly puzzled. "I am thinking it has to be some sort of proximity based key, like we stand near the door and it opens." Drex began chuckling at his own idea. "No, no. I'm being ridicules. How silly would that be, a vault that opens because you're near it? It has to be something else. But what could it be?" Drex looked back at his team who still stared at his feet clueless.

"You know I'm not just talking to myself here, you guys can pipe up any time." The brief silence was broken by Zen. "I think you on something." "Don't you mean on to something?" "No" Zen said as he pointed at the spot where he and Viv had been staring. Drex looked down to see a holographic circle had constructed around him. The circle was mostly transparent and glowed white. The circle, itself was made out of smaller squares and it rose to about chest level. "Oh." Responded Drex.

The whole team began to grow ecstatic. Drex began examining the circle he was standing in. "Okay, it seems if we want to generate enough power to open the door then we are going to need about two more of these circle plate things. Viv call Omega team back here and tell them the door will be open when they get here." Viv objected. "Maybe we should wait until they get back to try and open it." "What's the worst that could happen?" Asked Zen rhetorically. "Fine, what do we need to do Drex?" "Find those other two circles. So Zen you take Viv to one and go stand on the other one yourself." "How did you know I knew where they were?" Drex smiled, the team had known each other long enough to know that Zen already observed the whole area; he was good like that even if he didn't always show it. Drex looked back at his team. "Alright let's go then."

* * *

By the time Zen and Viv were in position, Omega team still wasn't back. Viv spoke up "We don't know what is behind that door are you sure we shouldn't wait a little longer." "Yes but let's do it anyway" Drex replied. From where they entered the placement of the plates were like a horse shoe. Drex was on the left plate, Zen was on the middle plate, and Viv was on the right one. "Okay, on the count of three get on you plates. If they are like this one it might take some time to build the circle. One, Two, THREE." The fireteam jumped on their plates. The ground started to rumble and the holographic circles began to build up around the plates. Drex stood ready for anything the circles reached their full height and the rumbling stopped.

Zen was the first to speak. "Well that was anticlimactic." Viv spoke next. "You might want to take a look behind you." Zen turned around and saw what they were doing. There stood holographic squares slowly forming what looked like a pillar over the key hole. Zen excitedly said "Well I guess all we have to do it w-" He was cut off by Viv. "GET DOWN!" He turned to see her with her auto rifle out. Zen dropped to the ground as fast as he could. Zen heard the shots go over his head and make contact with something. He jumped up to see a Vex Harpy dead on the grey concrete behind him. Drex shouted while raising his pulse rife. "Contacts everywhere!" Zen checked his radar and saw Drex was right. Vex were warping in and coming out of the walls. Like the others Zen lifted his scout rifle and started firing. Harpies, Goblins, and Hobgoblins were all teleporting in faster than the team could dispose of them.

These Vex were stronger than the other ones on Venus and there were so many of them. They were closing in on Drex fast. He looked over at his teammates for help but only saw that they were penned down as well. "Try heavy weapons!" Drex switched to his Machine Gun and started mowing down the approaching enemies. He could hear Zen do the same and Viv with her Rocket Launcher.

Drex started to think that this had won them victory but he heard Viv call out. "I'm out of ammo!" Drex check his, and it was the same way. He threw down his gun; he could feel his Light bursting inside of him. "It's time! Let them have it." Drex put his hands together pooling his energy. In between his hands a purple ball formed. Drex forced more and more power into it causing it to grow. The space around it began to bend and tear, the power twisted on itself. Drex jumped and threw the sphere. When the Novabomb hit its mark the sphere expanded not just killing the Vex it hit but rending them apart piece by piece.

The others did the same, Viv filled her fists with lighting. She slammed them into the ground which split under her. Blasts of arc energy jetted from the ground splitting the Vex the dared to approach her and then the lighting shot forward in an unstoppable shockwave of light. A Hobgoblin set its sights on her but was cut short by a fiery bolt from Zen's burning golden hand cannon. Zen turned to a group and fired at a Harpy. The Harpy was killed in seconds as the bullet melted its body, the Harpy then exploded in flaming brilliance killing the nearby enemies.

Silence fell as the team looked at each other. The spire was almost complete but Drex felt something dark approaching. By the way they were looking around so could the rest of them. Out of a wall climbed a Minotaur but it was far more powerful. Drex had heard of these from the old legends, it was a Praetorian. Drex called out. "RUN!" But it was too late the Praetorian warped behind Zen. Zen turned around to slow to do anything. The Praetorian lifted its powerful arm preparing to smash down when Viv ran in and tackled Zen out of the way. The arm came down with enough destructive force to take out Viv and her ghost. Viv closed her eyes.

The arm hit, but not Viv. There stood Brocis with the Minotaur arm caught in his hand. The Praetorian began to struggle trying to free its arm. Brocis tightened his grip crushing the arm and with one quick movement he torn the arm clean off. The Praetorian made a loud screeching as it reeled back. The noise was terrible but quickly silenced with a deafening *Crack* and the Minotaur fell. Drex turned to look and saw Prolus standing with his hand cannon raised and pointed where the creature once stood.

Drex had never seen as gun like that. It was black and glowed green, the metal looked almost like bone. It gave him chills, like the gun didn't kill by wounding but by just fear alone. Drex looked at the downed Praetorian and there was no bullet hole but a large object sticking through its head. It was sharp and penetrated all the way through. The barbs and shape of the object reminded him of a rose's thorn.

* * *

Prolus stood by the door taking readings with his ghost, Zen was keeping a look out close by. The rest of the group sat around refilling their ammo. Brocis spoke up. "Prolus, how much longer do you think this is going to be?" "I'm not sure but it could be a while, I just what to know what's down there before we go charging in." "Well if it is going to be a while the rest of us might as well secure the perimeter. Drex can come with me and Viv can go with Sandren." Sandren gave a nod and stood up. Viv followed her as they walked away from the colossal door in to the jungles of Venus.

After walking for half an hour without word being spoken, Sandren pointed to her helmet and then to the ground. Viv knew the signal and turn her helmet comms to local. No one said anything for a full minute. Finally Sandren spoke. "I can tell you care a lot about the rest of your team." "You're not really good at small talk are you?" Sandren shot Viv a stare. "You're also slightly older than Drex or Zenith, right?" "Yeah, I am. What is your point?" "I saw when you dove to save your friend you were also looking at Drex to see if he was in trouble too." Sandren took a seat on the ground. Viv took the hint and did the same.

"It was the look in your eye that told me, us awoken are good at sensing it." "Told you what?" "That this has happened before, that this is the second fireteam that you are a part of." Viv's stomach sank. Sandren was right. "Yes I was the leader of a fireteam before I met Drex and Zen. I was a just a new guardian back then and hungry for adventure. We all thought we were hot shit and so eager to prove it." Viv's mood turned somber. We assaulted an Archon Priests ship. We fought our way into the ship and burst into the main artillery room ready to blow it up and take the ship down. It was a trap. When we got there the Archon Priest was waiting. The doors sealed and five tanks activated."

Sandren could see Viv inside her helmet, exos couldn't cry but you could tell when they were trying to. "We took down two of the tanks but it wasn't enough. In a last despite act our warlock used his Novabomb to blast open the hull. I worked but it made him lose his life. That's when we found out that the ship had begun take off into space. We were all sucked out including the fallen. We hadn't left Earth's gravity yet so we stated getting pulled back. I jumped in one of the tanks and looked around for our hunter only to see him in the arms of the Archon Priests...dead."

"What happened then?" Viv opened her helmet and pointed to a gash near the bottom of her face plate. "I got this when I hit the ground but the tank protected me for the most part. This was the only thing my ghost couldn't fix. To me it is a reminder how painful it is to lose a teammate, so I won't ever let it happen again. Last time I was weak but now I am going to protect them." Viv stood up and put her helmet on. Sandren also stood up. "That's good because right now Prolus is confirming our fears that something dark is down in that vault and we need to stop." "So that's why we came out here. To see if my Fireteam and I were ready." "Yes right now Prolus is talking to Zen and Brocis to Drex." "Are we? Are we ready?" "I think yes." Sandren led the way back to the vault.

Drex followed the path that Brocis cut in the vines that were a thick as rope. He wasn't sure how far they had gone but kept going anyway. Drex had already switched his radio to local and decided it was time to start the conversation. "What is it that you wanted to talk about out here?" Brocis stop and turn around. He found a rock to lean back on and crossed his arms. "So, you knew what we were doing." "I just figured if we were really just securing the area you would have sent me with Viv. So if that wasn't it, it must be to see if you can trust us to fight with you and not run away when the going gets tough." "You're a smart one Drex, which is a start. What do you know of the vault so far?"

"I know the legend of Kabr, the titan who entered the vault and no one ever hear from him or his team again. It's said that two others of the fireteam died and the others were wiped out of existence. Kabr fought the Vex and turned their bodies into armor. I don't know about the last part because if that were possible then other guardians would have done that too." "They haven't because Vex made armor can only be made in the Vault of Glass. I should know because I am wearing the armor right now." Drex was a little surprised by this declaration; he had played around with the thought but never thought it was true. "Funny I didn't think they armor would look like that; I suspected it would have to be more shinny.

"That legend is supposed to be long lost I am surprised you know it so well." "I like the stories of old guardians. When they were around there was hope for humanity that the guardians could actually win." "You don't think we can now?" "I am not a child I can see the proof in front of me. All of the old heroes are dead and we are just delaying the inevitable." "Wow I didn't take you to be such a cheery one." "Hey I didn't say that I was giving up. Some time is better than no time." "Does that mean I can trust you to stick with us, you clearly know how dangerous it could be?"

"That depends, trust is a two way street and we don't know all that much about you guys." "Ask anything, I am happy to answer." "Okay, why are you called team Omega?" "It's what we do. Most of the missions we take are meant to end things, sometimes it is a Fallen house uprising, others times a high priority target." "Where did you guy get that armor?" We found it in an abandoned Vex construct. Prolus thinks that it was transported there by Kabr and his team."

"One more question. Those weapons that all of you are carrying, what are they?" "This" Brocis lifted up his gun. "Is a special gun, sometimes called exotic weapons, they are very unique only one or two of each exist. It's their uniqueness that gives them there incredible power. This one is called Hard Light, it's a prototype and it is especially deadly in close-quarters because..." Brocis pointed the gun at two rocks sitting close together and fired. The bullet bounced off the rock and into the other one. It then bounded off that rock and back into the first one. The bullet continued to do this until it hit an odd angle and went flying off into space.

Drex stood amazed. "Wow, do all of you have exotic weapons!" "Yes each of us has more than just one." Drex was still excited thinking of finding his own some day but then had a realization. "Is Prolus's hand cannon an exotic weapon?" "Yes." Brocis breathed out with a sigh. "but his is called Thorn and its history is soaked in blood. I think the best person to tell that story is Prolus not me. Now back to the question at hand, can we trust you to come with us?" "Yes you can." The titan stood up and both he and Drex began the walk back to the vault.

Zen sat on a look out perch with his rifle across his leg holding the detachable scope up to his eye. Prolus was behind him inspecting the Vex structures. Zen sighed and put the scope back on. Nimble like a cat he climbed down the pillar he was sitting on, and walked up to the busy Warlock. "What are you doing anyway?" Prolus didn't turn to look at him but still answered. "I am using my ghost to scan for whatever the Vex are keeping down there. By the looks of it, it is causing some serious time fluctuations and also contains immensely dark energy." "Then why don't we just bring in some high powered flashlight." Prolus stop what he was doing. "Please stop that." Zen smiled "Stop what?" "Stop acting like you don't understand." "I was just asking..." "No."

Prolus turned to face him. "You were trying to show me that I shouldn't rely on you. You keep acting like you don't understand or that you are incompetent so we don't rely on you. If we don't rely on you then it will never be your fault if something goes wrong. I'm guessing that one time someone relied on you and you let them down. So now you make people lose faith in you so when something bad happens you can tell yourself that there was nothing you could have done. The problem with this is how much danger you put your allies in. You almost got your friend Viv killed." Zen stood frozen and his smile slipped away. "You probably could have dodged the Minotaur's hit but you made her lose so much faith in you that she couldn't trust you to dodge it."

Prolus turned back to looking at the vault's door. Zen dropped his head."I didn't know that I was so easy to read." "You are if the reader knows what to look for." "What do you mean?" "Honestly, at one time I was a lot like you. Long before I met Brocis and Sandren I hurt some people very close to me because I wasn't strong enough. I eventually gave up in my own abilities as a guardian." "What did you do about it?" "I started wandering across earth until I realized that I needed to become stronger so next time will be different." There was silence between the two for a long time.

"Do you know why I am telling you this Zen?" "So I don't make the same mistakes you did?" "It is because you haven't given up on yourself just yet. What do you tell your fireteam when you sit and sharpen you knife?" "I say I do it because I think I look cool doing it." "But really it is because you are readying yourself for the next fight." "Yeah." Prolus turned back around and put away his ghost. "That's good because where we are going to need a sharp knife." Zen looked up at Prolus. "Zenith can I count on you to keep us safe." Zen's smile sprouted back but this time it was a smile of confidence. He just noticed Prolus's out stretched hand. He clasped Prolus's hand with him own. "Yes you can!"

* * *

Drex and Brocis arrived back to find the rest of the party waiting on them. Prolus, who was leaning against a large slab of concert, stood up straight and spoke. "Now that we all had our little heart to hearts it is time to discuss our plan of action. Whatever is down there is sending off some catastrophic readings, so much so that it is creating temporal ripples all around the entrance." "Could you explain that a little?" Zen asked "Yes I can, and also thank you very much for participating now. It means that, whatever is down there has bent time to hide itself. This means that if we were to smash through the wall here then we would only find more rock. This door here is literally the only way to get in because the vault itself is placed outside of time."

"That doesn't make sense!" Drex piped up. "How can something be outside of time!?" "Actually it makes perfect sense." Sandren interrupted. "If you wanted to hide something from beings that can't control time, where is a better place to hide it than somewhere that needs the ability to control of time to access?" Prolus took over again. "Exactly, if it helps imagine time like the water in a river. We are at the mercy of the current while this vault is like a big rock in the middle of the river. The rock pokes out of the steam and the water brushes by it. But it is more complex than just that. "

Prolus' words started to fill with excitement like he was having fun just talking. "Even if you could control time, you still can only enter from this door here." "Okay I think I am starting to get it but why would they make a vault that can only be opened by time traveling robots and then force them to only enter from here?" Drex asked. "That's the question. Maybe the Vex are hiding something and if they are what would need this much protection. If I had to guess I would say that whatever is in the heart of the vault is something the Vex can bear to lose." "So what are you suggesting?" Viv asked. "That we make sure they do."

"As I was saying we have to make a plan of action and the way I see it is we can either go down there now..." "Which will probably kill us." Sandren added. "..or go back and inform the vanguard." "If we do that then they will send more guardians." Viv commented but Drex already know why they couldn't choose this option. "But by then it will be too late. Now that they Vex have realized that we can open the vault they are going to but extra security around it." "Well we can't just go down and die." Viv continued to protest. Zen chimed in. "We are guardians, dying is what we do when we are board." Prolus' mood change quickly. "Actually, the darkness down there is more intents than anything you have faced before, if you die while down there your ghosts won't be able to bring you back."

The group went silent until Viv spoke again. "I know I don't speak for everyone but if the thing waiting in the vault is as dangerous as Prolus makes it sound then I will go. If we don't stop it then not only is the city in danger but also everyone living in it. I can't stand by knowing there is something I can do to stop it!" Brocis took a step forward. "You speak for us better than you may think. If you fireteam is with you than we are ready." Zen gave Viv a reassuring nod. Drex on the other hand hesitated for a moment before agreeing "I suppose we can buy the tower an extra year or two." "Well in that case" Brocis clapped his hands together. "Let's get to work."

Prolus jumped down to the spire that the young guardian risked their lives to build. He put his ghost to it and a dazzling light shot out of it. The white light shot straight into the vault door and the ground began to shake. The door open slowly like it had a mind that was screaming to stay closed. Despite the doors best efforts, it was pried open by the stream of energy flowing into it. The guardians pulled out their guns and walked through the vault door.

The vault was a blue rocky cave illuminated by the light from Vex tech that was built into the wall. The path was clear with only one sensible direction aside from insane drop offs. They continued in and crawled through another tunnel that let into a large opening. This opening made the whole company stop to gaze. There lay a ravine, the emptiness of which was vast and the walls were made of Vex metal, not shinning but dull and aged. The floor and walls the guardians stood near were still made of stone but also contained glowing Vex circuits. Sandren pointed with her gun to a door way next to them. "Let's try this way before scaling down the ravine."

Drex hadn't noticed Sandren's main weapon before now. It was a strange looking pulse rifle with blood on the tip of it. Drex quickly remembered that it must be an Exotic weapon. "Prolus, what kind of exotic gun does Sandren have?" Prolus turned to Drex. "It's called Red Death." He was interrupted by Sandren who was listening closer than Drex thought she was. "Have some respect. Its name is Read Death. Watch out it's a guardian killer." She spoke coldly without even turning to him. "Ha sure. Wait she is kidding right?" Drex turned back to Prolus. "Right?" "I agree let's try the easy way first." Drex turn to Zen who just stared back with a look of concern and walked a little faster.

They walked through the door and found that the cave only got bigger; in fact it didn't even look like a cave any more based on how much open space there was. Drex all of a sudden felt very small. Below were giant floating slabs of rock leading onward but below that, which bothered Drex the most, was seemingly nothing. "Well this is a path if I have ever seen one." Brocis stated. Right after which he leapt to the nearest rock. Prolus followed right behind him. Viv and Zen took the hint and did the same. Drex hesitated. Sandren look at him and began talking.

"Listen there is no reason to be nervous I was only kidding about the gun. Well not actually but that's beside the point. I know sometimes I seem a little cold but..." "No no, I'm not nervous, I'm excited. I feel like one of the guardians that people make stories about like Kabr and his Fireteam." "You sure know your stories." "That's what Brocis said when we had our little chat. Anyway we should probably catch up before we get left behind." "Actually while we are alone I wanted to ask about what you said before we entered the Vault." "What do you mean?" "You said that we can give the tower another year, which just seemed a little pessimistic to me." "Don't tell me you think that you think humanity has much longer than that." Drex stated with almost a scoff.

"I think that if humanity can do one thing good it's survive. I travel all across Earth a long time ago and in that time I learned a lot about people. Personally I think that by the end of this war humanity will stay standing." "Don't be ridicules." Drex didn't want to fall into this debate at first but at this point he couldn't help himself. "At one point maybe we could have but now we are all out of luck, it's too late for us to fight off so many enemies who so desperately want us dead." "What did we have then that we don't have now?" "Heroes. All of the heroes that actually were able to fight the darkness are all dead."

Sandren let out a small chuckle like she tried to keep it in but couldn't. "Why is that so funny?" "Do you think any of the Guardians you call heroes ever thought of themselves as that? Heroes aren't born helping people. They first learn hurt and pain and sorrow. They are born out of ashes. You're saying that Earth is doomed because it is covered in ash, I say that is the exact reason we are going to win." Drex had never actually thought about this so he grew really quiet and looked off in the distance. "If waiting for a hero bothers you so much then maybe you should try it." Sandren then pushed off of the rock falling downward to regroup with the rest of the team, Drex stared off in the open cave before joining her.

* * *

As they climbed lower and lower Drex began to question the space around him. The rocks seemed to flout or hang but there was far too much space for this place to make any sense. When he finally caught up with everyone else they were looking off the edge of a drop. In front of them was a large formation of rock and circuit. "How did we get here we never went through a portal?" Drex asked directed toward Prolus. Everyone turned their attention to him, most were eager for an answer. "Well I suspect that is because we haven't actually moved." Viv was the one to ask what they were all thinking. "What are you talking about there is no way we are under Venus." "We aren't." Prolus seem to have trouble thinking of a way to explain what he was thinking.

"Well we aren't under our Venus anyway. Like I was saying earlier the Vault has to be in another dimension otherwise someone could just crack the planet open and get in. I suspect that the Vex have found a way to put different realities together." The collection of blank stares showed how well everyone understood. After a minute of silent Brocis finally thought he would venture a guess. "If we were to dig up right now we would be on a Venus of a parallel universe." Prolus let out a delighted smile. "Exactly but there are many different Venus'. The Vex took pieces from all of them and stitched them together!" Viv got real close. "How does this help us?" "It doesn't really." "Then why are we wasting time?" "Hey don't be mean to the nerds."Zen said. "Actually there is a point." Sandren interrupted. "Because it is a different universe there could be types of Vex that we have never seen before. We need to be extra careful."

Drex looked back at Prolus. "We will follow your lead, just show us where to go." Prolus pointed to the large floating platform that held a pillar and at the back of it another vault door. "We need to drop down and find a way to open the door." Zen walked up to Prolus and peered off the edge. "Are you sure? Shouldn't we look for enemies fris-AAAAHHHHHHH." Everyone turned to look where Zen once stood only to fine Prolus' out stretched hand that gave the force to push him down to the next platform. Prolus looked back at everyone staring at him and gave a shrug. "What? I'm not a nerd."

Everyone followed Zen down with a little more grace that he dropped with. The large platform connected to a wall on the cave. The front section of the platform had two large pillars and led in three different directions. The left path was long and open and from that path you could reach the back of the room. The right path lead up a short set of stairs and had a ceiling of stone. If you followed the right path farther you would reach the back of the platform and it connected to the left path like a horseshoe. The middle path led down to a lower level that was surrounded by four walls with small pathways. In the middle of the lower level was a metal ring.

"That hurt you jerk!" Zen said as he brushed himself off. "I think I am starting to like you more, but we still need to find a way to open the door." Zen said as he smiled. "Well it probably has something to do with this glowing pillar." Drex said as he walks towards it. He put his back to it and leaned on it. "What are you doing?" Viv asked. "Well this is how I activated the last thing." "You can't just expect everything to work by laying on it. Why wou-" Viv's sentence was cut short by a loud rumble and the ground shaking. "Dang I am good." "Touché."

* * *

Vex began to pour out of every wall heading straight toward them. "Don't let them get near this pillar!" Prolus shouted. The Guardians got to work. Drex raised his pulse rifle and started firing. He began to realize how much easier it was to fight with team Omega near, could they really be that powerful? Not a single Vex was getting close; Goblins and Harpies fell before them. Zen let out a yell. "In front of us!" Drex looked and saw strange Vex that were glowing green. Prolus saw these and shouted back. "Don't let them touch you they can poison your Light!" Right as he finished the ground began to shake again and two more pillars appeared one on the left and one on the right.

Prolus took charge with a calm determination. "Two people for each pillar! Split off by class!" Brocis grabbed Viv's arm and ran right, Sandren did the same with Zen and jumped left. Prolus and Drex stayed in the middle and kept firing. Without the noise of the other weapons Drex could hear the terrible crack with each shot Prolus made. *Crack* Dead *Crack* Dead *Crack* Dead. The Vex fell faster than Drex could see them but still the numbers were piling up and they were going to be over run soon. Then Minotaur started coming out. Drex could hear Viv shouting. "We need more time!"

Prolus pulled out a fusion rifle and started to dual wield. "Drex! Get your super now!" Drex understood this and chucked his grenade into group of enemies. He sat down cross legged on the ground. Shot flew above his head but still he was unfazed. Drex began to pull in all of energy around him. It was building faster now that he was focused. He knew the rest of his team was doing the same. Drex's thoughts went back to when they first learned this technique.

* * *

"Why does it take so long to charge a super?" Drex asked. "Because you're slow." Zen sarcastically answered. The team sat just outside the city in a training spot that they went to often. Drex was reading information about the warlock Osiris on a display screen, Zen was throwing knifes at a tree, and Viv was practicing her aim by shooting objects in the distance. "Seriously, there has to be a faster way?" "Why does it charge faster when you kill something?" Viv asked in between shots. "Because by eliminating of the darkness you make your Light stronger." Drex guessed the answer. "Does that mean the darkness is just covering the Light?" Zen asked after retrieving his knives from the tree. "If that is true then shouldn't we be able to absorb it fast without killing?" Viv was quick to notice the flaw in this. "I guess but that would take a lot of focus and that is hard to do in a combat zone."

Drex sat down and closed his eyes. He began to focus his energy. The rest of his team stopped what they were doing and watched him. They were a little astounded, purple void energy began to flow around Drex growing bigger and bigger. "Is it working?" Drex asked. Zen raised his sniper rifle. "Yeah but there is still one problem." Zen let off a shot right next to Drex's head. He lost his concentration and the energy started going crazy. "What is going-"*BANG* Zen was silenced by the void amassing around Drex exploding. The blast knocked all of them back.

Drex found himself lying on his back with his head aching. He looked around and saw Viv also getting up but that wasn't what caught Drex's attention. Drex was in the middle of a small crater. "Did I do this?" "I think so." Viv answered. "Wow how did you do that?" Zen's voice came from tree that he had been blasted into. "If I did that by accident imagine what I could do if I completed it." The team looked at each other for a moment and knew it was time to train. Each of them took turns trying to take in energy while the other two tried to break their concentration.

It took a while for them to get better at using the technique but they found themselves improving none the less. After about three months they deemed the attack combat ready. Of course there still remained the problem of stopping battle to take in the light. "Maybe we can find a way to store the light before battle?" Zen suggested. Drex shook his head. "No we would need to concentrate on holding the energy instead of the mission at hand. But if we are all pulling in energy at the same time the process should go faster." Viv chimed in after examining the destruction that her attack had caused. "So to do this we need to be guarded."

Drex stopped and looked around at their training grounds now filled will scars from their practice. "One thing is for sure we can't use this in the crucible." He stepped out of a crater and next to a tree with the top half evaporated, "And I hope we never have to use this at all."

* * *

Drex felt the space around him bending as he pulled in all the power he could. He could still hear Prolus' shot destroying the Vex that were closing in. "Are you ready?!" "Just one more minute, once I am ready the other two should be able to activate theirs also." "Sandren! Thin the numbers!" Drex could hear what sound like an auto rife but when he opened his eyes he saw Sandren firing her sniper rifle. Every shot landed right on the core of the target. This gave Drex just enough time to be ready. He stood up and felt the power swell around him. The void energy began to form three spheres around him. Each growing bigger and darker the more energy Drex poured into them.

Drex leapt into the air and threw the orbs into the ground. They expanded the minute they made impacted. The floor shook violently, each of the orbs expanded to the size of Drex's normal super. The Vex in front of him were ripped into pieces by the oncoming attack. The blast only lasted a few seconds but the lane was clear. Not a single one touched the conflux they were protecting. Drex dropped to his knee exhausted. There was still gunfire from the left and right sides. Drex had only succeeded in taking down a third of the Vex but he also gave his teammates the light they need for their attacks. The Vex that were surrounding them were about to realize this the hard way.

Viv was the first to active her super. Everyone could feel the lightening from their places. She slammed her fists down shattering the floor below her. It felt like the whole platform they were standing on was about to collapse. Jets of electricity shot out from under the rock vaporizing any enemy that didn't have the good sense to back away. The ones that did try to back away found that they were frozen in place by the electricity acting like whips flailing around and cutting though them. The silence she left was quickly replaced by the sound of Zen's super.

The fire that covered him brightened the entire cave. He raised his burning hand cannon and let loose a shot. The Vex began to melt away before the shot even landed. When it did hit the fire erupted hot enough for the nearby rocks to glow white. He killed the closest crowd with the first shot. The next two removed the majority of the remaining Vex. The ones that were left then grouped together for a charge, unprepared for Zen's light to still be burning. Zen turned to them and fired his three remaining shots. All of the Vex were destroyed.

Like Drex, Viv and Zen felt down. Brocis and Sandren helped them back to the middle. They set them down next to Drex. "That was some good work there." Brocis stated. "Thanks." Drex responded out of breath. "Give us a minute and we should be fine." Viv said while in not much better shape. The three Guardians sat there resting while the others began to look around. The door was still sealed and there were no enemies in sight. Finally Sandren spoke. "Prolus do you still have Kabr's ghost recordings?"

"Kabr's ghost recordings?" Drex asked. Prolus walked over to them and opened a data pad. "One time we were searching around some Vex ruins and found some dead ghosts. We didn't think much of them at first but we brought them back to the Vanguard anyway. After examining them, they determined that the information contained within them was all about Kabr and his team." Drex was amazed by this. "I thought all of the records were lost." Prolus was opening files on the data pad and stopped on a certain one. "That's true. We honestly don't know how it got here. Strange things happen in the Vault."

* * *

"So what does the ghost say?" Viv early asked. " _You will meet the Templar in a place that is a time before or after the stars. The stars will move you and mark you and sing to you. They will decide if you are real._ " Prolus put the pad away when he finished. "Is that a clue?" Zen asked. Brocis answered this. "I think it is a warning, I don't like the sound of the stars it was talking about. If there is anything I have learned from fighting Hive it's, if you hear something singing it is better off dead." "I think you're right." Prolus said as he began to contemplate what to do next. Zen, realizing the strangeness of the situation, put in his two cents before getting up. "Got it, I'll be on the lookout for music."

Sandren looked around scanning the area. She stopped and pointed. "How long has that been there?" The group looked over to see a green fluctuating cube floating off to the right. It was a light green and illuminated the area around it. Drex stood up and walked up the stairs to it. He stared for a second then finally reached out his hand. As he touched it the cube let out a single note chime. Drex grabbed his throat and fell to the ground. All he could see is green and he could feel himself chocking. The note of the cube played so loud in his head that he couldn't hear his teammates calling to him.

Brocis charged with his shotgun and shattered the cube with one shot. He picked up Drex and put him over his shoulder. Drex flailed around and screamed trying to stop the noise in his head. Even still he wasn't able to get out of Brocis' clutch. Everyone turned to Prolus who was already looking for a solution. That was when they heard another chime go off and then another. Soon five cubes had appeared, but by then Prolus was ready to go. "Brocis take Drex to the circle on the lower level!" He raised his fusion rile and fired it without charging it. The shot hit one of the cubes, breaking it. "Sandren take care of these cubes!"

Sandren, like a cat, jumped on a near stone pillar and leapt back up to the platform they had jumped down from. She aimed her sniper rifle and began firing it with incredible speed. Viv and Zen were up and ready with their weapons out. "What do we do?" Zen shouted over Viv already firing her gun. "You two are going to hold off the Vex for as long as you can!" "What V-" Before Zen could finish Prolus had rushed down to the lower level. Zen heard a deafening mechanical cry. He and Viv turned around to see a giant Vex Hydra floating in front of the door leading farther into the vault. The machine hovered with the peck of its sharp cone shape just off the floor. Its metallic eye glowed blue just below the horns of its silver body.

Zen pointed his Scout rifle at the metal monster and fired a whole clip only to have the bullets bounce off a white holographic shield that surrounded it. Its eye grew angry. Three small spheres appeared around it and began to glow intensely. Viv ran up and tackled Zen out of the way right as the machine fired purple blasts of plasma exploding on the impact of the ground. Viv and Zen jumped back up and looked back at their opponent and saw more Vex crawling out from behind it. They both threw their grenades and proceeded to unleash their weapons on them.

Prolus and Brocis stood above Drex who lay in the center of the metal ring. "Brocis get on the other side of me and put your light into the circle." Brocis couldn't understand why but didn't hesitate for a second. He kneeled down and put his hands on the metal ring and Prolus did the same. The inside of the circle glowed white and Drex began to cough the green glow out of his mouth. "It's working!" Prolus cried "Keep going!" The white light climbed in the air and engulfed Drex. The light grew brighter and brighter until it was blinding. In a second it all disappeared and Drex was on his knees and forearms coughing. Brocis hurried to help him up but Drex raised his hand. "I'm fine just give me a second, you two go help the others." Prolus looked at Brocis. "No, Brocis you go, I'll make sure he is okay."

Brocis ran back up the stairs to the top of the platform. A purple bolt shot right over his head. He dove into cove as Zen sent back shots with his sniper rifle, slowing the approaching Vex. "Is he going to be alright?" Viv asked after pulling back into cover. "Yes, Prolus is watching over him." Right as he finished speaking a bolt smashed a piece of the cover away. Viv leaned out and fired off a full clip. Three Harpies dropped dead. "I hope you have a way to stop these things." "I might have something up my sleeve."

Brocis stepped out with a strange energy surrounding him. The giant Vex machine turned to him and began charging its attack. Brocis' arms began to radiate power slowly the power took form and turned purple. Just as the machine was about deliver its devastating barrage Brocis spread is arms out. All of a sudden the attack stopped. The surrounding Vex fell down drained of their energy. Zen and Viv poked out of their safe zones and slowly ran up to Brocis, confused about what just happened. "Wow what did you do?" Zen asked. Brocis looked at his hands just as bewildered as they were. "That wasn't me."

Drex and Prolus came up from the lower level. "Was that you two?" Zen asked. Both of them shook their heads. Zen looked around again. "Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this" A screeching noise brought the Guardians down to their knees. The green cubes had reappeared all around the area, each one glowing brighter than before. The light and noise was paralyzing them. Zen reached for his sniper rifle and pointed it at the nearest cube but he was too impaired to hit it. Finally over the noise came Sandren's voice. Zen looked up barely able to make out any sounds. He could see she had taken her helmet off allowing him to read her lips. _Throw me your rifle._

It took all of his strength but Zen grabbed his gun and tossed it up to her. She held up her sniper and Zen's. She aimed them at different targets and unleashed her fury. No one was sure how many shots she fired because it would have been impossible to count. Not just because the effect of the cubes but because the whole scene only lasted a minute. She didn't stop firing for a second the entire time. The team began to collect themselves by the time she jumped down. She set her gun against a wall and handed Zen back his. "Sorry about that." She said as she went to go check on the others. Zen looked down at his gun to see what she meant. To his shock and horror the gun had been rendered unusable. The barrel of the weapon had been warped and bent from the heat of the quick firing. Zen laughed from amazement and threw the wasted weapon off the edge.

* * *

"That rifle was built from materials that were refined in the Golden Age! How did it melt?" Zen complained after realizing how disadvantaged he was without a sniper rifle. "To fire that fast my light has to burn pretty hot. I guess your gun just couldn't take it." Sandren said in a bragging manner. "How come your gun didn't break?" "Because it is special." "You mean it is exotic." Drex stated. "Yes, exactly." Prolus walked up to the group. Through the excitement no one had noticed he had gone anywhere. "As much as I hate to break up the team building going on right now, we might have a bigger problem."

Everyone turned their heads and looked at the door leading onward. In front of it still sat the giant Vex Hydra. It waited behind its towering shield like a tiger ready to pounce. Its eye said the same showing that it was ready to blast away the Guardians that had dared to disturb it. "Just what is that thing?" Drex asked "More importantly, how do we kill it?" Viv added. Prolus was ready with an answer. "Kabr called it the Templar. It appears before and after the stars sing." "So those things are coming back? Am I going to lose another gun then" Zen asked. "Maybe not because this time things are going to go a little differently."

Prolus started walking down the stairs to the lower level and the rest of the fireteam followed. He stopped at the metal ring where they healed Drex. In the middle of it now floated a square object. "What is that?" Drex asked. "I think it is what is left of Kabr." Drex stood there confused and amazed at what he had just said. "What do you mean this is what is left of Kabr?" "I was reading the transcript from the ghost recording and listen to this." Prolus brought out his data pad once again to read from it. " _I have made a wound in the Vault. I have pierced it and let in the Light. Bathe in it and be cleansed. Look to it and understand: From my own Light and from the thinking flesh of the Vex I made a shield. The shield is your deliverance. It will break the unbreakable. It will change your fate._ "

They all stared at the floating shield and a moment of silence fell over them. Drex said what the older Guardians were thinking. "All I knew was that he disappeared. I guess I had always hoped that he was just hiding somewhere like Osiris." "Was Kabr really that powerful of a Guardian?" Viv asked. "If he sacrificed his Light to forge this shield then I believe that it will protect us no matter what." "Well then let's get to work." Prolus nodded in agreement and walked over to the benevolent shield. "He we go." He whispered as he stuck his arm in the shield.

The Templar let out a vengeful mechanical roar and disappeared in an instant. The team turned around to find the Templar charging its weapons to fire. To make matters worse there were smaller Vex units appearing on their radar. The group turned to Prolus for a plan; it had almost become instinct at this point. "I'll hold on to the shied so Brocis and Drex can do damage on the Templar. Sandren and Viv are going to take care of the little guys." "What about me?" Zen asked feeling forgotten. "You," Prolus said as he tossed a heavy ammo pack at him. "are going to take care of those annoying cubes." "What are you talking about? Those things are gone." The end of Zen's sentence was followed by the loud noise of the cubes song. "You and your mouth." Viv said while putting more ammo into her shotgun. They turned their attention back to the Templar who was seconds from firing. Prolus' voice still over powered the machines fear. "On my mark."

Right as the bolt was freed Prolus called out. "GO!" The team jumped out of the way of the shot. Viv jumped to the top level on the right side and Sandren on the left. Zen went forward to the right where he heard the first chime. Brocis, Drex, and Prolus Sprinted forward where they had entered from and where the Templar now held its position. The Templar quickly fired off two more shots which Prolus block one and they all dodged the second. Drex shot a few shots at the Templar only to have its shield protect it. Another couple of bolts came at them. Drex and Prolus dove to their lefts and Brocis did the same but the other direction.

"How do we get through that thing?" Drex shouted over the sound of plasma splashing over the cover they hid behind. "Drex" Prolus spoke in a disappointed fashion "weren't you paying attention to the ghost's transcript? This shield is meant to break the unbreakable." "Wait, how are you going to-" Prolus rolled out of cover before he could finish. He stopped on one knee with the shield pointed at the Templar. It turn at him with a low metal grumble and readied another bolt but Prolus was quick and knew what he was doing.

He pored his Light into the shield and it glowed hot white. The shield began to form a blinding bolt of its own. When it seemed like it couldn't get any bigger or brighter, the bolt was unleashed. The shot made impact with the shield and the shield disappeared when it made impact. Brocis, who was ready, unloaded his gun into the Templar before Drex readied his. Even with his lack of haste Drex was able to fire off half of his heavy machine gun before the Templar disappeared. Brocis and Drex ceased fire and looked around.

"There!" Brocis pointed with his auto rifle. Drex and Prolus turned to see the mechanic beast hovering on the right side of the platform with its shield once again intact. Prolus brought up the relic and ran at the Templar while speaking to his teammates. "I am going to hit him again. Just be sure that you two are ready to do some damage." "What!?" Drex yelled with shock. He knew there was no way Prolus had any Light left over from his last attack. How was he going to take down the shield with no charge? But then Drex saw it. Prolus was pulling in Light the same way Drex had been. He was amazed. Drex could only do that if he was sitting still so he could concentrate but somehow Prolus was able to do it while dodging enemy fire.

By the time Prolus reached the Templar he was ready. He jumped and fired the shield's bolt in the same manner as last time. The bolt splashed across the Templar's shield and dissolved it. At the same time Brocis and Drex fired their guns which tore into the Templar as it let out an angry cry. They were only able to shoot two clips before the Templar disappear just as quickly as it did last time. It teleported back to the middle and screeched a noise that forced the three to cover their ears. The next sound they hear was Zen calling out a warning. "The cubes are getting faster!"

Prolus turned to Brocis. "We are out of time, you have to use it." Brocis nodded and put away his auto rifle. "What's going on?" Drex asked. Prolus ignored him for a minute while he read a data pad with the hand that wasn't charging the shield. "Drex I need you to go shoot at the Templar from over there." Prolus pointed to a raised block on the right side. "I think that the Templar is going to teleport there next, but if you stand there is should block it from doing so." Drex accepted what he was saying and ran to his place. From there Prolus called to him. "Drex you have to distract him so Brocis has time to attack." Drex nodded and began to fire at the Templar to grab his attention. Once he was no long focused on him or Brocis, Prolus ran to the Templar and fired the shield. He then ran back into cover so not to be hit by Brocis' attack.

Drex held the monsters attention. Brocis' ghost came to his side. There was no time to waste so Brocis flew into the air and summoned his weapon from the ghost. Drex stopped firing out of awe but he had already competed him part. Brocis stayed in the air with his jetpack holding a rocket launcher like none Drex had ever seen before. It had a black barrel and a white body. Around it were golden accents and in some places small golden feathers. Brocis let fly the rockets from the weapon and jets of fire shot from both ends of the barrel. The Templar felt the power of the weapon and tried to move out of the way but the projectiles followed it. The impact shattered the metal of casing of the Hydra as its eye was soon snuffed out. The rockets broke into smaller rounds and detonated. The Templar went silent and fell crashing to the ground.

* * *

The team formed up around the broken body of the foe that they had just beaten. Once it had fallen the Vex stopped their assault and the cubes became silent. The Guardians reloaded their weapons and looked around with relief. Right as they began to relax they heard a rumbling and looked to the door that was blocking their progress. The door slid back and disappeared. Ready to leave this open area the team made their way over to the door and went through. It was better on the other side. There were no open areas for snipers to be hiding plus it no longer seemed like they were teetering on the edge of a rock.

It now looked like they were in a cave again. It was darker and the area had a blue coloring to it. They stood on rock that was smooth and flat. The ceiling was also stone but was more jagged like the walls. In front of them was a gaping space. It was like they were standing on the top of a hole and were looking down. Unlike the previous areas in the vault it looked as though there was something down there but they couldn't see because of some dust or cloud obstructed their vision. They still felt like this was the way they were supposed to go.

"What is that stuff?" Drex asked what his team was thinking. They were expecting Prolus to answer but instead he just continued to stare into the pit so Brocis answered. "It is electric smoke. It would be wise to not spend too much time in it." "I can climb down first to see if it is safe." Viv volunteered. Prolus looked back like he was coming out of a daze. "No, if we climb down we will defiantly be in the smoke too long." As Prolus said this he tapped a stone off the edge with his foot.

"Well then how do you suggest we get down?" Viv asked with just a touch of sarcasm. Prolus waited a moment and hear the *clack* of the stone hitting the ground. "Eleven seconds." He said and casually took a step off the edge and began to plummet down. Everyone went to the edge to see what he was doing but he had disappeared into the smoke. "Touché" Viv said but was then followed by a *Crack* and a thorn like projectile landing in the stone next to them. "Well I guess it is safe." Brocis said with an odd lack of surprise. Drex realized this must have been due to all of the years they must have spent together. "Let's go then."

Brocis ran forward and jumped down, he was followed by everyone else in the same fashion except for Zen who felt the need to swan dive off of the edge. Drex felt the drop was a little long and began to doubt if Prolus was alive. Soon enough he saw that ground and activated his jet pack to slow his descent. He hit the ground with a jolt but was still on his feet. The last one to land was Zen because of his antics. The team grouped up to plan what their next move would be.

The air was clearer down here but it was still dark and blue. They stood in a puddle of liquid and looked around. They were in a cavern and all was quiet. Although the ground and walls seemed to be made of natural rock there were still some structures that seemed to be created by the Vex. The cave in some areas became tunnels while others were open. There were different paths that led in different direction but no clear answer to which one was the right one to take. Drex already felt tired and wondering around would only make it worse, but to his relief Prolus said what he was hoping for.

"Alright everyone let's take a rest here." The team sat down and laid their weapons on the ground. Drex sat next to Prolus because he had several things that he wanted to discuss but not with the entire group. Drex leaned close to him so not to be over heard. "Sandren got me thinking, I think that I am going to try harder to become a hero." Drex stopped because he was feeling a little ridiculous but Prolus didn't laugh. Instead he sat there waiting for Drex to go on. So he did. "I was wondering if you knew a way for me to become more powerful." Prolus leaned back the rock behind him.

"What makes you think I know any secrets to getting power?" Drex was surprised; Prolus had asked this like it wasn't obvious. "I just thought by the way everyone relied on you that you were a lot stronger." Prolus chuckled quietly as he began to realize where Drex had gotten this idea from. "It may seem that way if you don't know us I suppose. I actually depend a on my team more than they depend on me. Think back did I ever fight as hard as Sandren or Brocis." Drex started thinking and realized that it was the others that did most of the fighting. "Just keep telling yourself that, we would have never made it here without you." Brocis said." Drex was a little embarrassed that he overheard but as he looked over he saw everyone else turning to see what they were talking about. Good, he was the only one that heard, He thought to himself.

"We do have one thing to make you all stronger." Prolus' words made Drex excited. "Are you sure they can wield them?" Sandren asked. "Yes but maybe only one at a time." "What are you two talking about?" Viv asked hopefully. Prolus pulled out his fusion rifle. This was the first chance Drex had to really look at it. It was short and had a small blade at the tip. It was mainly yellow with some unpainted black around the trigger and down the stock. Drex could tell it wasn't an everyday weapon. "Is that an exotic?" Drex asked. "I heard you use that word several times. What is an Exotic?" Zen asked. "It is a weapon or piece of armor that holds special powers." Brocis answered.

"Yes it is." Prolus answered. "Its name is Plan C. A Warlock's job is mostly to be prepared for the unexpected. We do our research and grow stronger so we can tear space itself to save our teammates. This fusion rifle is ready to fire, which means you don't need to charge its first shot, an important ability for those who are ready to get out of tight situations." Prolus handed the gun to Drex. "Take care of it and it will do the same for you." Drex couldn't believe that he had just been handed the weapon. "Thank you, Prolus"

"That's not all." Sandren walked over to Zen and pulled off her sniper rifle from her back. "Here" She said as she handed it to him. "I suppose I own you a new one." The rifle looked a little worn. The barrel had grass camouflage on it. The whole gun was black, all except the scope which had a leaf colored net on it. "What is it?" Zen asked. "A Hunters most powerful tool, Patience and Time. That also happens to be the name of the gun. It has a radar in the scope so you don't need to look away to see your own, but that isn't even the best part of it. Try looking through it while sitting still." Zen did as she said and got to one knee and looked down the scope like he was closing in on a target.

After a couple of seconds Zen vanished. At the same time Viv and Drex cried "Whoa!" Zen put down the gun. "What happened? Nothing changed." Zen exclaimed with confused. "Look at yourself." Viv said. Zen looked at his hand at the color slowly came back to his armor. "Oh, that's cool!" "You're welcome." Sandren said causally as she sat back where she was. "Well I suppose I did call dips on any loot." He said approvingly

Sensing the pattern eyes turned to Brocis who had already pulled out the rocket launcher that he used to defeat the Templar. He threw the gun to Viv who caught it with both hands. "I think I understand you Viv." Brocis said. Viv looked at him with surprise. "Everything you have done was to protect your team even at the cost of your own life." Brocis pointed to the weapon he gave her. "Its name is Gjallarhorn. It was crafted from the armor of those who died defending the city at the battle of Twilight Gap. Its rockets will track a target and when they make impact, brake off into smaller wolf pack rounds." Viv took a moment to examine the weapon. "Thanks." she said as she put it in her lap. The team looked at their new weapons with shinning pride.

* * *

After resting for some time Sandren got up. "It might be tough finding our way through the tunnels so Zen and I will scout a path." "Okay" Prolus responded. "but if you're gone more than thirty minutes radio back or we are going in for you." Alright. Zen, use your sniper rifle to be invisible just in case." Zen crouched and raised his gun. After a few seconds he disappeared again. "Wait, how are you going to go unnoticed?" Zen asked. "I have my ways." Sandren walked away and as she did the color of her armor faded until she was transparent. "I have to learn how to do that." Zen said before following her.

The rest of the four still sat down on the floor resting. Drex felt ready. The rest had done him a lot of good but Prolus' gift had done more, he was itching to use it. Drex was fiddling with it and thinking. The idea of him becoming a legend was growing in his mind. One day he might even had younger Guardians talking about what he had done. Then Sandren's words came back to him about how great guardians are born through pain. Drex began to think what he will go through to reach this new goal. Maybe someday he would be leading a team into a Vex vault.

He chuckled at the thought. He looked over at Viv and thought of Zen sneaking around. He wasn't sure of what kind of challenge he would face but Drex was sure that they would be with him to face it. Together the three of them would become legends. Drex leaned his back on the side of the cave and looked around the area.

Drex realized he wasn't the only one fiddling with their weapons. Prolus was sitting examining his cryptic gun that still gave him the chills. Drex figured now was a good as a time as any to ask him about it. "Hey Prolus, where did you find that gun?" Prolus looked up at Drex with a sad expression; it looked like he was hoping Drex wouldn't ask about it. "This gun has a very unpleasant history. Are you sure you want to hear it?" Drex was taken aback by Prolus' question but curiosity had the better of him. "Yes I do."

Prolus sighed. "This weapon is named Thorn but it once was named Rose. The original owner of it was a great hero, a Guardian. Everyone looked up to him but fighting the dark eventually took its toll and the hero changed. The hero became corrupted and received a new name Dredgen Yor." Drex had never heard of Dredgen before but he didn't stop Prolus. "When he changed he realized his gun held no petals so he changed its name to Thorn. Together they not only killed minions of the dark but they also killed Guardians who stood in their way." Drex was sickened by this. "Why are you caring a murders gun?"

Prolus stopped for a moment and thought like he was trying to find a way to explain what he was thinking. "This gun is a symbol." Prolus could see that Drex wasn't getting it. "It shows that a Guardian can be corrupted and if that is true then what chance do the rest of us have. I carry this gun with so I can prove that we are stronger than that. Once again this weapon will be used for the light and I will make it bloom." Drex understood but it did raise questions about his own corruptibility. The worry must have been visible because Prolus noticed it.

"I wouldn't worry much if I were you. You have so good friends looking after you. Just be sure to look after them too." Drex nodded. "Do you know how to make Thorn bloom again?" Prolus looked away from Drex and off into the distance getting lost in thought. "I suspect that when the time come Thorn with rise to the occasion."

"Are you guys ready to go?" The group turned to see Zen reappearing from the dark. From behind him can Sandren. We found the way but we may have a problem." Sandren added. Prolus looked at her. "What kind of problem?"

* * *

"It's right there." Sandren pointed at a Harpy floating back and forth in a pattern. The team had followed the Hunters forward on a path straight from where they were sitting. The area here was more cave like. The group was crouched down so the Harpy couldn't see them. "What about it?" Viv asked. "Look it doesn't have any weapons." They all looked and saw she was right. "Then why don't we just attack?" "Think, why would Vex this deep in the Vault not be armed?" "Maybe they are just here for repairs." Drex suggested. "No." Zen said. "The way they move in strict paths makes me think they are on patrol." "I agree this is strange. We should avoid them if possible." Prolus said.

When the Harpy turned its back the team moved past it with haste. They followed Sandren and Zen through the dark tunnels. Every so often Sandren or Zen would turn invisible and go on ahead to make sure they were going the right way. Drex knew he would have gotten lost but the two Hunters seemed to know where they were going and eventually they stopped and Sandren came back to the rest of the group.

"That is the entrance to go down." She pointed at a cave on the other side of an open pathway. "To reach it we need to get passed one more of those guards and he is a little tricky so we will have to go one at a time." Sandren went back to the front. A Harpy passed by and when it had its back turned she sprinted and in a flash made it to the cave that led down. Zen followed her next, then Viv and Brocis. Drex was feeling kind of nervous when Prolus ran across. Everyone was staring at him. Once the guard passed Drex ran as fast as he could. Drex could feel himself almost on the other side when his toe hit something hard and then his face followed by hitting the ground.

Drex quickly got back to his feet but when he looked up it was too late. The red eye of the Vex stared back at him. There was a moment where the two of them stared at each other with neither moving. The guard began to make a screech noise and glow. "Kill it!" Viv yelled from the cave. The Harpy looked over with surprise as a wall of bullets slammed into it. It turned back to Drex who and already pulled out his weapon and was firing also. The Harpy's call fell silent and it broke apart on the ground. The team looked at Drex to tell him to hurry but he was already running at full speed.

They quickly flowed the path down the cave and away from the danger above. When they figured they were safe they all stopped to catch their breath, but instead of panting Zen began to laugh hysterically at what had just happened. Viv looked at him and began to chuckle which eventually broke into full laughter too. The older Guardians looked at each other with the same smirk and joined the other two. Drex stood there with a frown. "Hey I could have been killed." The others ignored this and kept laughing. Drex couldn't keep a straight face any more and began laughing just as loud as they were.

It took a while for them too all catch their breaths but they eventually all calmed down and continued along the path. They walked for only a short time before they found the exit to the cave. The area opened up to a ravine where no one could see a bottom. They stood on untouched rock and above them was open cave with no visible ceiling. The rock around them could probably be scaled but it was clear that they were supposed to make it to the other side. The opposite side was smooth carved stone with several footholds on the mostly vertical surface. To the left was an indentation that invited the Guardians.

"How are we going to get over there?" Zen asked. Sandren walked to the edge of the drop off to find an answer to Zen's question. A block of stone suddenly appeared in front of her suspended in the air. "I suppose that answers your question." Brocis said as he walked to the edge where Sandren was standing. The Guardian all jumped on the block. In front of them another platform appeared. Once again the team jumped to the new block and a new one spawned closer to the opposite side. Drex turned around to see where they had come from when he realized what was happening.

"What happened to the block we were just on?" The all turned around to see the platform they had just come from had disappeared. They all looked at their feet and saw the platform they stood on was disintegrating. "Run!" Prolus shouted. The Guardians jumped off the platform right as it disappeared completely. The blocks began to spawn and vanish faster the farther they got. The team ran and jumped across the ravine until no more platforms could be seen. Drex put his head down and ran faster. He reached the end of his platform and leapt to the other side. He reached out to grab the side of the wall and missed it by a hair.

Terror filled Drex as he began to fall. All of sudden he stopped falling. He looked up to see Viv hanging off the edge with on hand and holding his hand with her other. He let out a sigh of relief but he then realized that despite her strength Viv couldn't pull them up. Drex began to consider the options and he didn't like the best result but he wasn't going to drag Viv down with him. "Try to swing me." "What?! No!" "There is still a chance that I can jump up and catch the ledge." "If you miss you will fall all the way down." "It is okay I've decide that I am not going to die until I become a famous legend." "Oh well in that case." She said sarcastically and then let out a sigh. "Are you sure about this?" "It's a risk I am willing to take."

"Not on my watch." Viv and Drex looked up to see Brocis standing above them. He grabbed Viv's hand and lifted Viv up high enough for Drex to grab the edge of the wall. He pulled himself up and clung to the rock. "Umm Guys?" The three looked back down for the source of the voice and Zen was hanging from the stone right next to where Viv and Drex had been. Zen had his knife stuck deep in the wall with no sign of moving. "Can I get some help too?" Together the three of them helped Zen up and together they shuffled to the indention that they saw earlier.

When they arrived Sandren and Prolus were already waiting. The indention was a path that led onward. And a door sat at the very end of the path. Once the Guardians got close the door slowly opened. "Good to see you all got here in one piece." Prolus said. The new arrivals looked at each other, knowing how close they had come to not getting there. "How much farther until we reach the end?" Drex asked. "By the feeling of it, I think on the other side of the door is the source of the darkness." Prolus answered. "Well then what are we doing standing around here?" Viv asked. "I agree," Drex stated. "Let's go make a name for ourselves."

* * *

Light poured into the dark hallway from the new room. The Guardians shielded their eyes as they walked through the door. The room was very symmetrical. In front of them was a floating slab of rock. To the left and right there were two copper circles like the ones they stood in to open the vault. Farther to the back and above the circles was a deactivated Vex portal. They stood like arches of metal waiting for the energy to form a blue and white light to fill the middle. Once activated the portal could send you anywhere in the universe. Even farther back was a flat area that led to stairs. Up the stairs was more flat rock but none of this was what caught the Guardians. In the very back of the room was shinning crystal looking glass. It was a ceiling for the back most stone platform and it lit up the entire room.

The next thing that caught the Guardian's attention was the imminent danger that they were distracted from. There were Vex sitting kneeling all around the room but they didn't seem like normal Vex. On the right side of the room the Vex had instead of the usual copper-brown color they were chrome and simpler. The Vex on the left however were brown and more complex with rounded heads. There was even a hydra in the center. They all were bowing towards the great glass monument.

Zen looked at Drex and exclaimed. "What the fu-" *VERRR* Zen was cut off by the noise of the Vex activating. They all turned around now noticing the warriors of the Light. The Vex weapons powered up and fired a barrage at the Guardians, but they were too late. The team split up and dodged. Prolus, Drex and Sandren move left while the others went right. The all returned fire on the Vex.

The team destroyed the Vex in front of them and moved forward to keep up the pace. The team on the left started to take out all of the fodder while the team on the right focused on the Hydra in the middle. The hydra started to teleport making it harder to hit but the team was ready for this. First it appeared in front of Drex who threw a grenade landing right on its head. Feeling the continuous damage the Hydra thought it better to teleport to the other side. When it did it was met by Zen and Brocis laying fire into it. This Hydra was fairly smart because it noticed one Guardian missing. It looked up the best it could and saw death coming down in the form of Viv's fists of havoc. The lightning split the beast straight down the middle.

The smoke from the attack cleared and the fireteam looked at each other. "Well that was easy." Viv said. "Don't relax now, the fight has just begun." Brocis retorted. "Your right, I think we need to summon the one who is in charge of the Vault." Prolus said while stepping on the left copper plates. Around him formed a translucent white ring just the plates they used to enter the Vault. Slowly the portal next to him activated. "Who wants to go in?" Prolus asked.

Viv and Brocis were the ones to step forward. They both ran into the portal head first. Viv's vision went white and when she could see again the area had completely changed. The once gray and white area was now open to the sun. The floor was covered in sand and the sky was yellow-brown. Everything around them seemed decayed and broken down by age. Everything except the Vex that were now aiming at her and Brocis. There were several Goblins and Hobgoblins and they looked like the more advanced Vex. They were certainly more adapted to this environment.

Brocis charged them and was able to smash the first one before they were even able to fire. When they returned fire he dodged them and fired back. Viv focused on the Hydra in the back. She pulled out Gjallarhorn and fired the weapon. She felt the power it had with each rocket she fired. After three the Hydra was dead and Brocis had finished off the rest. Viv could see him pick up something but she also noticed something else. Her vision began to fade. Blackness began to cover her helmet until she couldn't see anything at all. Suddenly light came back to her. Brocis was next to her holding a shield like the one they used against the Templar. The shield gave out an aura clearing both their vision. Together they both ran back through the portal.

Drex heard the portal active when Viv and Brocis came back through. He turned back to shooting the Vex coming out of the walls. The minute the two of them left the Vex started attacking. He turned to Viv. "Follow me." He ran to the right side just like Prolus had planned. He looked back to see Prolus telling Brocis the rest of the plan. Brocis understood and they both ran to the center where a pillar had formed. Vex tried to swarm it but Brocis bashed them with his shield. Drex and Viv arrived at the left side and stood in the copper circle. Sandren and Zen ran into the portal.

Drex turned to Viv so he could tell her the plan but he also didn't stop shooting. "When the two of them come out we are all going to fall back to defend that pillar. Until then we have to keep this portal open. Drex dodged as a Minotaur took a swing at him. Viv pulled out her shotgun and gunned it down.

Sandren stood next to Zen who was shooting the Vex running at them. He guessed she was getting instructions from Brocis about what to do. Zen knew they could have been teleported anywhere but this location didn't look all that different from where they just were. The only major difference was the vines and other vegetation climbing on the Vex constructions. Sandren turned to him indicating that she was ready. Zen had already taken care of most of the small fries so the both focused fire on the Hydra.

Sandren ran to where the body was and pick up a shield. Zen noticed that it was like the one they used against the Templar. Sandren ran back right as Zen was seeing something black begin to color his helmet. The shield emitted and aura and the darkness was gone. With the job done they both ran back through the portal.

Just like they planned, when the Hunters came back the team grouped up on the pillar. The portals reactivated themselves and Vex walked out of them. The Guardians formed a circle pattern around the pillar and killed any Vex that got close. Finally when Vex bodies made a ring around them, the portals deactivated and the team was able to appreciate their success. However their celebration was cut short by the sound of another enemy teleporting in. The all looked to where the noise had come from. At the top of the stairs stood Atheon, master of time.

* * *

The team scattered back to the room's entrance. Drex looked up at the massive Vex. It was silver and glowed blue. It had a body like man but its head was a hexagon with three silver spikes sticking out of it. The machine stood on two legs and held a large weapon in one hand. The hand looked like a claw with sharp tips. Larges spikes protruded from its back. Drex looked to Prolus for instructions but he was just as awestruck. No one move until the machine powered up its weapon. The Guardians ducked behind cover just in time for the concussive shots to go sailing over their heads.

"It's Atheon!" Prolus said. Brocis and Sandren looked at him with disbelief. Drex peaked his head out in between blasts to get another look at the creature. Behind it more Vex started to appear. "Who is Atheon?" He shouted over the noise from the Vex fire. "A machine God that can manipulate time. Every move the Vex have made was all dictated by Atheon. He is their main processor, their commander. "Prolus said gravely. The team fell quiet despite the barrage in front of them. Prolus put his head down in what Drex thought was despair but when he raise it back up Drex could see he was smiling. "Well Drex, you were thinking about becoming a hero. Now's the time to see if you can make it." Prolus jumped out from cover as Vex started appearing behind them. The rest followed him.

"Drex help me with the little guys." Prolus yelled as he fired. The rest of the team knew what his plan was. Sandren and Brocis dropped their shields. The four of them began shooting the machine with their primary weapons. Atheon brushed off the bullets and returned fire. The Guardians once again scattered out of the way. "Try grenades!" Brocis suggested. They all four pulled out their grenades and threw them at Atheon. Once again it had little effect but Atheon was not letting the Guardians get away again. It raised its giant hand and the light around it began to sparkle. The light stretched out and surrounded the Guardians that had shot at the machine. Drex looked at his team as the light slowly took them away. Sandren grabbed one of the relic shields as she was vanishing. In an instant Drex and Prolus were alone and surrounded by enemies.

Zen shot up. He had fallen a small ways and landed on his back. He looked around and saw that he had returned to the other side of the portal where the vines still tried to claim as much land as they could. He saw the portal on the other side of the room completely inactive. He then turned to see Sandren with him. She was sitting on the floor in a meditative position like she was pulling in Light for something. "What's going on?" Zen asked "We are waiting for Prolus and Drex to open the door." She replied calmly.

"The only issue is the Vex are approaching and we are running out of time." "What do you mean?" Zen asked. "I have a feeling they are going to come at us with everything they got. This includes those cubes so we need to hurry." Sandren said as she stood back up and picked up the shield sitting behind Zen. She began to walk down the steps. She was stopped with a Minotaur teleported in front of her. It towered over her but she was unflinching. The swung its arm down to crush her with tremendous force but the minute it should have made contacted Sandren disappeared. The Minotaur founder her again as her foot slammed into its head, destroying the top half of it. The lifeless scrap fell to the ground.

The cubes began to reappear in the air. On the ground a slow stream of Vex teleported in. Sandren ran at the Vex and started slicing them one by one with the edge of the shield. Zen took out Patience and Time and hid himself so he could take out the green cubes with no interruptions. Zen's view began to grow black but he kept shooting until the last cube dispersed. By then he could only see a sliver of light. The last of his view was taken over by a bright purple light. Zen knew what it was; one of the Minotaurs had seen him. He braced for impact and waited. He looked back up and just as he hoped Sandren was there with the shield shinning its light.

Zen looked to the portal and it was active but between it and them was an army of Vex. Zen couldn't think how they were going to get through them. He started readying his golden gun and realized there was enough time to charge it before they attacked. That was when Sandren deactivated the shield. She threw it into the ground where it stuck standing up. She crossed her arms in front of her. Sandren slowly took a few steps forward with her eyes fixated on the Vex. She started to glow blue and sparks leapt from her. Zen flinched back as she began to release her power. He was amazed. It was arc energy she was channeling.

A knife make of arc energy shot from each of her hand. She sprinted at the enemy. The Vex prepared to defend themselves after calculating the distance between themselves and the oncoming hunter but in a flash she disappeared. She reappeared as her blade slashed through the belly of the closest Goblin. The arc knife went through without any effort and the metal bubbled from the strike. After the cut was complete Sandren disappeared again and was only visible when she made another slash. Zen could hardly keep up with her speed and the Vex didn't stand a chance. They dropped like flies as Sandren split them all into pieces. Zen grabbed the shield and ran to the exit. He arrived just as Sandren pulled her knife out of the last Vex. The blue light vanished from around her and they both ran through the portal.

* * *

Viv and Brocis landed on their feet with their weapons raised. They stood back to back and looked in all directions. They were back in the desert version of the room where the sand still covered the ground. The two of them didn't have long to stand around. Just a few seconds after they teleported in the Vex started to appear. They both when into action and fired back. Above Viv saw the green cubes spawn in. Both titans destroyed them the second they appeared. However the cubes were not the problem. Viv quickly realized that the number of Vex was beginning to add up.

Viv looked around. There were sniper hobgoblins around the edge of the room and many Minotaurs in the center. She figured she could take out the center Vex with her Fists of Havoc but then she would be destroyed by the snipers. She looked up to Brocis to see if he had a plan. Evidently he was ready for something because there was an enormous amount of energy flowing from him. The energy turned purple and Viv realized it might be better to stay back a bit. Brocis ran at the Vex with destructive force. Fighting his way to the crowed in the center with his shotgun he finally reached the middle. The Vex around him feeling victorious turned toward him and began to attack. Before they could though Brocis unleaded his own attack.

A purple bubble shaped shield encompassed the surrounding Vex. Viv could hear the muffled sound of shotgun blasts from within but couldn't see inside. The Hobgoblins fired at the shield only to have their shots bounce off. They then turned to Viv. She saw this and then did the only thing she could think of. She took a dead sprint straight for Brocis shield. Unlike the Vex's gun fire Viv slipped right through the shield and without a scratch on her. Inside the bubble was a pile of dead Vex and on top of it stood Brocis, tall and proud? "What is this?" Viv asked. "It is the power of a titan." He said looking back at her. "It is our job to protect the people we care about and the Light we have gives us the means to do that."

Viv felt like this might not have been the best time for a heroic speech but it did fill her with a little awe. "This is amazing." Viv said seeing the Hobgoblins on the outside getting frustrated. "You may need to learn how to do this if you want to keep those friends of yours safe. With the dreams that Drex is thinking up you may need all of the power you can get." Viv nodding thinking that he was completely right. "Now how about we go make sure our teammates haven't got themselves into too much trouble."

The Vex were waiting outside the bubble considering what to do next. The two titans jumped out of the shield. Before the Vex could even aim at them they had already been gunned down by the Guardians. When the enemies where down Viv turned to look at the portal. "It's open." She called to Brocis. He turned to look and they both ran through before any more the enemy could call in reinforcements.

* * *

After the Guardians disappeared, Drex and Prolus where left alone with Atheon. The machine turned its attention back to the Guardians still standing in front of it. The two of them dived behind cover on the left side as barrage of shots landed around them. "Where did they go?" Drex asked. "The Vex shouldn't be able to teleport them out of the vault so they have to be close. If I had to guess I would say that they are on the other sides of those portals." "So we have to get those open." Drex finished speaking and took a deep breath. He jumped up and sprinted over to the other side. Atheon saw him and shot at Drex. Drex was too quick, all of Atheon's attacks landed right behind him. Finally he reached the right portal.

He looked back at Prolus for a signal to go. Prolus nodded at moved on to the plate that opened the portals. Drex did the same. He looked up and saw more Vex teleporting in. They were Harpies but they weren't attacking from a distance. Instead they were moving quickly towards the Guardians. Drex prepared to fight them close range but then started thinking. Why would they come at us when it would be so much easier to attack from a distance? Using his pulse rifle Drex took down the closest Harpy. Once it started to fall it exploded. So that was their plan, flying mobile bombs Drex thought. He turned to Prolus to tell him but it appeared that had already figured this out.

The two of them killed the last of the incoming enemies as the portals finished opening. This was when they could see a change in Atheon. Clearly the machine had run out of options. Before it had been content, staying back and firing from afar, but now it no longer had that luxury. The monster moved toward the left side. Drex became worried that it was going to started attacking Prolus but he then realized the Guardians wasn't its target. Atheon was going to destroy the portal. Prolus saw this too. He gave a look towards Drex like he was reminding himself that the lives of his fellow Guardians were on the line.

Prolus ran forward at Atheon. He jumped on the portal and then kicked off of it. He soared into the air. He reached Atheon's full height and stared it straight in the eye. He pulled Thorn fired all its rounds into Atheon's eye. Atheon staggered back but it was not enough to stop the machine completely. With its two giant hands Atheon clapped together where Prolus floated, like smashing a fly. Drex couldn't believe what had just happened. He froze as he saw Prolus's body fall to the ground. It landed with a hard *Thud* He turned to Atheon filled with rage. He aimed his gun but was blinded by a bright light.

Drex shielded his eyes and looked to see what it was. He was in shock. Prolus was alive again and he was covered with a blinding fire. He still floated right at the level of Atheon's eye, which by now was filled with surprise and perhaps fear. A pair of flaming wings jutted from Prolus's back as he aimed Thorn once again at Atheon's eye. But it was no longer Thorn. The weapon felt Prolus's Light and began to change. Out from the barrel a flower of fire sprouted. *Crack* Prolus fired his first shot but it wasn't like his shots before. Atheon staggered back as the shot landed with an explosion. *Crack* The poison that the weapon once use was replaced with fire that burned the great machine. Prolus continued to fire and with each shot Atheon was pushed back, unable to withstand the intensity of the Guardians power.

* * *

Drex and Prolus looked back when they heard the noise of their teammates coming through the portals. Prolus fire faded away. The returning Guardians looked around to see Atheon wounded but slowly recovering. It rested on one knee but with it saw the Guardians return it stood back up and aimed its weapon with difficulty. "Get to the middle." Prolus said calmly and with confidence. They all move to the platform that floated in the center. Sandren handed Prolus the shield she had been carrying. Atheon let out a mechanical roar and its eye contained pure rage. The team aimed their exotic weapons at Atheon and the beast did the same at them.

Atheon fired first but Prolus slammed down the shield and the light from it protected them. The shield stuck in the ground but the aura from it still surrounded them. Prolus raised his weapon along with the others. "Fire." The team let loose hell. There was nothing Atheon could do to protect itself. Fire, Void, and Arc bullets slammed into and penetrated the metal the protected Atheon's core. The team kept firing until their weapons were empty. The machine that was once Atheon was now just a pile of rubble. The Guardians walked closer to it. Drex climbed on top of the fallen foe. There he saw its eye flickering, struggling to stay lit. Drex pointed his pulse rifle directly at it. *Bang*

* * *

Drex finished telling the story and both the Vanguard and the Speaker seemed satisfied. "Thank you for your service Guardians, we wish we could celebrate your victory with the entire city but you have destroyed only one enemy while several still remain." The speaker always knew how to put a somber tone on a victor, Drex thought. "Still you have done well and your actions have saved many lives." Zavala said. "We the information we need. I think they are ready." Ikora said. The three Vanguards stood up and prepared to leave. "Wait." Drex stopped them. The Speaker went on ahead of them.

"What was the point of this interview?" The Vanguard looked at each other and decided they should tell him. "We wanted to see if Fireteam Omega was capable of dealing with another situation that we believe is becoming a problem." Zavala stated vaguely. After that, they all left leaving Drex and the rest of his team. He looked back at them and they both shrugged. They then left the small room too.

They walked out to the tower plaza. "So what now?" Zen asked. "We could start training." Viv suggested. "I wouldn't mind learning the void power that Brocis had." "We could find some more of those exotic weapons. I know a few places we could try to look." Drex suggested. "or we could..." Drex stopped dead in his tracks. Viv and Zen both looked in the direction he was staring at. Talking to the Cryptarch was Fireteam Omega. The three of them ran to greet them. Team Omega heard them coming and turned around with a smile.

"It is good to see you all." Brocis said. "You too." Drex replied. "I thought you all were out on a mission?" Viv asked. "It was pretty easy so it didn't take long." Prolus said. The two teams started talking but Drex grew quite. He finally asked what was on his mind. "What kind of mission did the Vanguard want to send you on?" Prolus turned to him. "So the Vanguard interviewed you to see if we were up to par." He said in an accepting tone. "Well, the hive have been acting a bit weird. The Vanguard thinks that something might be coming back and I am inclined to believe them."

Drex knew that it whatever they were doing was going to be tough but didn't know how to ask his next question but luckily his team had his back. "If you need any help we are available." Viv suggested. Prolus thought for a moment before speaking. "Start training. We still have work to do so you guy have time to get ready but it will be a tough mission. Good luck." Team Omega began to walk away but Prolus shouted one last thing. "Also make sure you find out everything you can about a Hive monster named Crota." With that they left.

Drex turned back to his team. "Well let's get going." "I'm ready" Viv said reassuringly. "Wait what exactly are we doing?" Zen asked. Drex turned to him and smiled. "I think we are going to kill a god."


End file.
